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- from a neoconservative perspective! - Keeping an eye on the communist-left so you don't have to!

NEWPORT BEACH – A 75-year-old man who has been battling health issues for years is suspected of shooting and killing a doctor at his office Monday night, authorities said.

A neighbor of Stanwood Fred Elkus said he was often negative about his persistent health problems, and after helping him work on a motor home Sunday night, Elkus insisted he take $10 for the work and a pair of wire cutters.

"I might not be alive much longer," James Lord, 54, said Elkus told him.

Lord said he didn't think much of the statement, knowing Elkus was often pessimistic about his health.

"I wish I could have seen the signs of it," he said.

Elkus was taken into custody in the second-floor offices of 520 Superior Ave., at the offices of Ronald Franklin Gilbert. Gilbert was identified by the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Authorities said about a half-dozen shots were fired at about 2:45 p.m. inside the Newport Beach medical offices. When officers arrived, Elkus was taken into custody without incident, said Kathy Lowe, spokeswoman for the Newport Beach Police Department.

Gilbert was the former chief of Hoag Hospital's Department of Urology, and had worked in the hospital for almost 20 years, according to a statement released Tuesday by Richard Afable, President and CEO of the hospital.

"Dr. Gilbert dedicated his career to serving others," the statement read.
His 53rd birthday would have been Wednesday.

Lord – the neighbor – said he'd known Elkus for about five years, and would be often asked to watch over his Lake Elsinore home while Elkus attended doctor appointments.
For years, Elkus had been battling prostate health problems, he said.

"I'd always tell him thinks would look better," Lord said.

More at that top link.

The dude flipped. His health problems were mental as well as prostate.